Devolved disability benefits evaluation: research

1. Introduction and study aims

In October 2023, the Scottish Government commissioned The Lines Between (TLB) to carry out research to inform an evaluation of transitions from Child Disability Payment (CDP) to Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in the context of the devolved disability benefits.

This report summarises the findings. Chapter 1 outlines the policy background and research methodology.

Policy background

CDP helps cover the extra costs of caring for a disabled or terminally ill child or young person. Those who receive CDP may be entitled to ADP once they turn 16, but moving from CDP to ADP does not happen automatically; a new application for ADP must be made.

Since disability benefits were devolved to Social Security Scotland from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Scottish Government has made policy changes to the journey from CDP to ADP to improve the process^[2]. Evidence gathered from stakeholders, including people with lived experience of applying for benefits, informed these policy commitments:

• Individuals have the choice of whether to apply for ADP 13 weeks before their 16th birthday at the earliest, up until the day before their 18th birthday, in order to continue receiving CDP up until their first ADP payment.
• If individuals do not qualify for ADP, they can continue to receive CDP until the age of 18 or beyond, if waiting for a determination.
• Until 31 December 2023, individuals whose awards were transferred from the DWP's Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLAC) close to their 18th birthday were able to stay in receipt of CDP until their 19th birthday or slightly beyond, in certain circumstances, to preserve the payment date.
• Individuals who apply before their 18th birthday will continue to receive payments for CDP until a determination or their 19th birthday.
• Individuals who are successful in their ADP application will continue to receive their payments seamlessly, meaning there is no need for CDP to end with a smaller payment covering part of a payment cycle before receiving ADP. ^[3]
• Individuals who are entitled to a higher rate of ADP than the CDP they were previously entitled to will receive an additional single payment to ensure they are not disadvantaged compared with those who apply for ADP without previously receiving CDP.

These changes intend to make the application process for disabled people and their representatives planning to move from CDP to ADP as straightforward as possible. They aim to do this by reducing barriers to applying, improving communications, and ensuring disabled people and their representatives understand their options and what is involved in the application process. More details about the aims of the changes are laid out in the logic model in Appendix 1.

Research objectives

This research aimed to identify experiences and outcomes stemming from the policy changes made to the transition from CDP to ADP, focusing on the following areas:

• Experiences of and views on the move from CDP to ADP.
• The timing of applications, including why individuals applied for ADP at early or later stages.
• Any differences in experience of moving from CDP to ADP between those whose award transferred from DLAC to CDP and those who were only in receipt of CDP, and any differences in experience between successful and unsuccessful ADP applicants.^[4]
• Whether the policy changes were implemented as intended and what the relevant impacts of these were on individuals' experiences of the CDP to ADP journey.

The evidence gathered on individuals' experiences and views on moving from CDP to ADP is intended to provide a greater understanding of how the policy changes are working in practice, and whether they have achieved the desired outcomes outlined in Appendix 1.

The study focuses on the experiences of five main groups:

1. Individuals who applied for CDP then applied for ADP earlier on purpose (early appliers to ADP).

2. Individuals who applied for CDP then applied for ADP to meet the deadline (later appliers for ADP).

3. Individuals who had their DLAC benefit transferred to CDP before they were 16 under Social Security Scotland then applied for ADP earlier on purpose.

4. Individuals who had their DLAC benefit transferred to CDP before they were 16 under Social Security Scotland then applied for ADP to meet the deadline.

5. Individuals who had their DLAC benefit transferred to CDP close to their 18th birthday under Social Security Scotland and then applied to ADP.

Methodology

The methodology involved three key phases, as summarised below. Further details are provided in Appendix 2:

Phase 1: Inception and foundation

• Inception meeting.
• Reviewing key policy documents on the background to the policy changes and their aims.
• Facilitating a workshop with Research Advisory Group (RAG) members to develop a logic model for the policy changes and identify the outcomes that the changes aim to achieve. Appendix 1 includes the final logic model.
• Design of research tools and sampling plan.

Phase 2: Fieldwork

• Interviews with five Social Security Scotland staff who process CDP to ADP applications.
• Online survey of organisations that support clients and formal representatives applying for ADP while receiving CDP. This received 12 responses from 10 Social Security Scotland local delivery team staff and two other organisations that support clients.
• Online survey of clients and formal representatives who had applied for ADP while receiving CDP, or were considering applying. This survey received 89 responses.
• Follow-up interviews with 30 respondents to the survey of clients and formal representatives to explore their experiences in more detail.

Phase 3: Analysis and report writing

• Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data and preparation of final report.

Terminology

Throughout the report, we refer to clients, formal representatives and support organisations:

Clients: Children and young people who receive CDP or ADP.

Formal representatives: Clients may have a 'formal representative' to help manage their benefits. These include:

• Parent/Guardian: a person with 'Parental Rights and Responsibilities' for a client under the age of 16.
• Legal acting body: a person or organisation who has a power of attorney or court order authorising them to act on behalf of a client aged 16 and over.
• Appointees: Social Security Scotland may appoint a person or organisation to manage a client's CDP or ADP in specific circumstances. These are:
• Where a client is under 16 (a child) and there is no-one who has authority to act on their behalf, lives with, has care of them and is willing and able to act for the child.
• Where a client is over 16 (an adult) and meets the definition of an 'adult with incapacity' and there is no other person who has been granted relevant powers, and is willing to act.

Support organisations: Unless otherwise stated, we use the term 'support organisations' to encompass organisations that help clients and formal representatives complete benefits applications through information provision or direct practical support. This includes Social Security Scotland and other third, public and private sector organisations.

Research participants

The survey and interviews gathered evidence from a diverse range of CDP and ADP clients. A full profile is provided in Appendix 3, and summarised below.

• Most research participants were formal representatives (mostly parents and carers who act as an appointee on behalf of a disabled young person aged 16 or over) but some young people who applied for ADP independently also took part.
• There were some new applicants to Social Security Scotland, but more were clients whose award had been transferred from DWP.
• Most participants had been successful with their ADP application.
• Almost all described their ethnicity as white.
• Most participants lived in urban areas, while there was a reasonable spread across Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintiles and genders.
• Participants reported experiencing a range of health conditions and disabilities, most commonly those that affect learning, understanding or concentrating; social or behavioural aspects (for example, Autism, attention deficit disorder or Asperger's syndrome); mental health and mobility.

Notes on the analysis and reporting approaches

Illustrative quotes are included throughout the report. Some quotes have been lightly edited for readability by, for example, removing repetition and unfinished sentences, without changing their meaning.

Appendix 4 contains five brief case studies. Names and other personal details have been changed to protect individuals' anonymity.

Quantitative survey data was analysed by running frequency tables to analyse the responses to each question and by compiling cross-tabulations to identify any differences in responses based on respondents' demographic characteristics including age, ethnicity, deprivation, urban-rural classification and whether they previously received DWP benefits before their award was transferred to CDP. Some percentages may not add up to 100% because of rounding.

The number of unsuccessful applicants (five) who completed the survey is much lower than the number of successful applicants (84) so quantitative comparisons of responses based on that variable are not reliable. Similarly, the number of clients who previously received DWP disability benefits (74) is larger than those who have not (15). Where possible, we include commentary on any differences in experiences between those groups emerging from the survey or interviews.

This report synthesises the themes identified in interviews and survey responses. A wide range of views were expressed and, while it is not feasible to include detail about each participant's viewpoint and experiences in the report, the most commonly identified themes are summarised.

We collected qualitative data from interviewees and quantitative data from survey respondents and interviewees. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions does not permit the quantification of results. However, a framework is used to convey the most to least commonly identified themes to assist the reader in interpreting the findings. This applies where we describe qualitative responses from clients and formal representatives who took part in interviews as well as free-text responses to open-ended questions in the survey of clients and formal representatives:

• The most common/second most common theme; the most frequently identified.
• Many respondents; 20 or more clients or formal representatives, or eight or more support organisation survey respondents, another prevalent theme.
• Several respondents; 15-19 clients or formal representatives, or 6-7 support organisation respondents, a recurring theme.
• Some respondents; 6-14 clients or formal representatives, or 4-5 support organisation respondents, another theme.
• A few / a small number of respondents; five or fewer clients or formal representatives, or three or fewer support organisations, a less commonly mentioned theme.

Report structure

This report is structured as follows:

• Chapter 2 explores clients' and formal representatives' understanding of when and how to apply for ADP.
• Chapter 3 discusses the factors that influence clients' and formal representatives' timing of their ADP application.
• Chapter 4 assesses clients' and formal representatives' experiences of completing the ADP application form.
• Chapter 5 analyses issues around the processing of the application and the transition from CDP to ADP.
• Chapter 6 includes conclusions and areas for consideration.

Appendix 1 contains the logic model developed in this study, Appendix 2 provides details of the methodology and Appendix 3 includes a demographic profile of the clients and formal representatives who took part in the research. Appendix 4 presents five case studies, Appendix 5 provides the survey questions for clients and formal representatives, and Appendix 6 discusses the outcomes and risk factors identified in the logic model.